Absolutely nothing! The word "abortion" does not appear in any translation of thebible!Out of more than 600 laws of Moses, none comments on abortion. One Mosaic lawabout miscarriage specifically contradicts the claim that the bible is antiabortion,clearly stating that miscarriage does not involve the death of a human being. If awoman has a miscarriage as the result of a fight, the man who caused it should befined. If the woman dies, however, the culprit must be killed:"If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her,and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished according as the woman'shusband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine."And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, toothfor tooth . . ."—Ex. 21:22-25 The bible orders the death penalty for murder of a human being, but not for theexpulsion of a fetus.When Does Life Begin?According to the bible, life begins at birth--when a baby draws its first breath. Thebible defines life as "breath" in several significant passages, including the story of Adam's creation in Genesis 2:7, when God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Jewish law traditionally considers thatpersonhood begins at birth.Desperate for a biblical basis for their beliefs, some antiabortionists cite obscurepassages, usually metaphors or poetic phrasing, such as: "Behold, I was shapen ininiquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psalm 51:5 This is sexist, but

does nothing other than to invoke original sin. It says nothing about abortion. The Commandments, Moses, Jesus and Paul ignored every chance to condemnabortion. If abortion was an important concern, why didn't the bible say so? Thou Shalt Not Kill?Many antiabortionists quote the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex.20:13) as evidence that the bible is antiabortion. They fail to investigate the bible'sdefinition of life (breath) or its deafening silence on abortion. Moreover, the Mosaiclaw in Exodus 21:22-25, directly following the Ten Commandments, makes it clearthat an embryo or fetus is not a human being.An honest reader must admit that the bible contradicts itself. "Thou shalt not kill"did not apply to many living, breathing human beings, including children, who areroutinely massacred in the bible. The Mosaic law orders "Thou shalt kill" people forcommitting such "crimes" as cursing one's father or mother (Ex. 21:17), for beinga "stubborn son" (Deut. 21:18-21), for being a homosexual (Lev. 20:13), or evenfor picking up sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-35)! Far from protecting thesanctity of life, the bible promotes capital punishment for conduct which nocivilized person or nation would regard as criminal.Mass killings were routinely ordered, committed or approved by the God of thebible. One typical example is Numbers 25:4-9, when the Lord casually ordersMoses to massacre 24,000 Israelites: "Take all the heads of the people, and hangthem up before the Lord against the sun." Clearly, the bible is not pro-life!Most scholars and translators agree that the injunction against killing forbade onlythe murder of (already born) Hebrews. It was open season on everyone else,including children, pregnant women and newborn babies.Does God Kill Babies?"Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."—Psalm 137:9

The bible is not pro-child. Why did God set a bear upon 42 children just for teasinga prophet (2 Kings 2:23-24)? Far from demonstrating a "pro-life" attitude, the bibledecimates innocent babies and pregnant women in passage after gory passage,starting with the flood and the wanton destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,progressing to the murder of the firstborn child of every household in Egypt (Ex.12:29), and the New Testament threats of annihilation.Space permits only a small sampling of biblical commandments or threats to killchildren:Numbers 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones.Deuteronomy 2:34 utterly destroyed the men and the women and the littleones.Deuteronomy 28:53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters.I Samuel 15:3 slay both man and woman, infant and suckling.2 Kings 8:12 dash their children, and rip up their women with child.2 Kings 15:16 all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.Isaiah 13:16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; theirhouses shall be spoiled and their wives ravished.Isaiah 13:18 They shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shallnot spare children.Lamentations 2:20 Shall the women eat their fruit, and children.Ezekiel 9:6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children.Hosea 9:14 give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.Hosea 13:16 their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with childshall be ripped up. Then there are the dire warnings of Jesus in the New Testament:"For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are thebarren, and the womb that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck."